In 1963 he went to the USA to teach and opened a pottery in Northern
California. He returned to England in 1964 and set up Muchelney Pottery in the tranquil
countryside one mile south of the village of Muchelney in Somerset. The
pots he made were functional part-glazed stoneware. The kiln was oil fired
at first, but later wood fired.

In 1983 John started to make one-off studio pieces in a range of styles.
Notable amongst these is the 'Black Mood' range; very different from John's
bread-and-butter pottery, and very striking. In recent years John has lectured
and staged demonstrations in Europe, Scandinavia, North America and the
West Indies. He is a big, striking man; friendly, communicative and with
a keen sense of humour.

Conscious of his debt to the environment, John has planted 4,000 broadleaf
trees on his land and has established a one acre pond sanctuary for wildlife
and vegitation.

Muchelney Pottery was started by John
Leach on his return from the USA in 1964. John changed from oil to wood
for firing in 1976, and in 1998 built a new wood fired climbing kiln on
oriental principles with a capacity of 350 cubic feet. The stoneware produced
at Muchelney is glazed on the inside and on the outside shows the beautiful
warm flame marks produced by the toasting of the 1300°C firing.

Working at the pottery with John are Nick Rees, master potter and Mark
Melbourne. The oven-to-table ware is of very high quality, as are
the studio pieces produced at the pottery.

A new Gallery was built adjacent to the pottery's kitchenware shop in 2003
for signed pots by John Leach, Nick Rees and Mark Melbourne together with
John's personal selection of work from his favourite artists and makers.

In 2006 John Leach opened an online shop
to sell 95 repeat designs from the Muchelney kitchenware range.

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